Wednesday, December 29, 2004

one contributor remembers watching, and laughing at, a kid in elementary school who ran right into a soccer goal post while looking the other way; another admits that he (or she?) grabs "girls rear-ends" and says, "Hey Jessica," then apologizes and says they looked just like someone else. Others are vague ("After years of contemplation, I really think that I may be an atheist. It scares me a lot"), or not really confessions at all ("I love porno like a fat kid loves cake"; "I have a velvet robe and smoke a pipe w/bubbles I feel unstoppable when I wear it sic").

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

At the court of Louis XV in 18th century France, there was a character who amazed everyone by pretending to be several centuries old. He went by the name of Saint Germain. As we enter into the 21st century, the person we’re concerned with today is just as impressive, but claims to be only 30 years old and is neither a swindler nor an aristocrat, but rather a maestro and a handyman. Ludovic Navarre, alias Saint Germain, pioneer of the French Touch, the new electronic music of France, has become an indisputable and respected reference on the international music scene. Without him, Daft Punk, Air and Dimitri From Paris would probably still be playing parties out in the French sticks…

Hair Cleansing Cream Shampoo clarifies and works to remove copper, iron, hard water minerals and styling product build-up on all hair types. Formulated with fruit acids to add shine, it purifies and refreshes hair.

Friday, November 12, 2004

Instant Rejuven8 The EndsA smoothing creme that will help seal split ends and reduce flyaways, imparting superb shine. A great tool for achieving extra slip when blowdrying or to detangle the hair. Suitable for wet or dry hair.

Friday, October 22, 2004

Lost in the distant memory of men at war, the truth emerges like a desert vision - with shattering consequences

Madeline Lee is not an opera about war... In this opera none of the battles are won side by side. The only battlefield here is memory and how we manipulate it to survive.

JOHN HADDOCK
Composer

This opera is about sons looking for their fathers. ... It is about how men deal with their emotions and with each other. It talks of grief, anger, denial and loss. It is about memory and the construction of our individual realities.

MICHAEL CAMPBELL
Co-writer and director

Madeline Lee reaches beyond realism to become a metaphor for a deeply human dilemma: the discontinuity between memory and fact, and the painful process of reconciling our subtly edited version of the past with what really happened.

...

Its primary concern is the way we use dreams and delusions to manage our experience of human frailty, both physical and emotional, both in ourselves and in others.

Thursday, October 21, 2004

In a word the merit of my libretto consisted, according to him [His Majesty the Emperor], in a pretty line here and there, or at most in a few happy arias...

Memoirs of Lorenzo da Ponte, translated by Elisabeth Abbott, 1929.

[Pierre-Augustin Caron de] Beaumarchais sums up his play [the comedy La folle journeé, ou le mariage de Figaro (1784)] in few words: "A great Spanish gentleman, in love with a girl whom he wishes to seduce, and the efforts that this fiancée, the man who she is to marry, and the wife of the seigneur unite in, to bring about the collapse of the designs of an absolute lord whose rank, fortune and prodigality make him powerful enough to accomplish them."

...

Le nozze di Figaro is above all an opera buffa, a work that sets off supremely those central concerns of humankind: love as opposed to lustfulness, generosity and loyalty rather than selfishness.

The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.

The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography. Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming.

This is a fault.

Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope.

They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty.

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written.

That is all.

The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass.

The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass.

The moral life of man forms part of the subject-matter of the artist, but the morality of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium. No artist desires to prove anything. Even things that are true can be proved.

No artist has ethical sympathies.

An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style. No artist is ever morbid. The artist can express everything.

Thought and language are to the artist instruments of an art.

Vice and virtue are to the artist materials for an art.

From the point of view of form, the type of all the arts is the art of the musician.

From the point of view of feeling, the actor's craft is the type.

All art is at once surface and symbol.

Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.

Those who read the symbol do so at their peril.

It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors.

Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.

When critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself.

We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.

Thursday, October 14, 2004

An excellent article arguing that the sanctity of human life should be respected and hence valued above conducting a realist National Service programme, the temerity of which may result in consequences more unnecessary than those of a war

Monday, October 04, 2004

If you are obsessive-compulsive, press 1 repeatedly.
If you are co-dependent, please ask someone to press 2 for you.
If you have multiple personalities, press 3, 4, 5 and 6.
If you are paranoid, we know who you are and what you want. Stay on the line so we can trace your call.
If you are delusional, press 7 and your call will be transferred to the mother ship.
If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a small voice will tell you which number to press.
If you are manic-depressive, it doesn't matter which number you press - no-one will answer.
If you have a nervous disorder, please fidget with the hash key until a representative comes on the line.
If you have amnesia, press 8 and state your name, address, phone number, date of birth, social security number and mother's maiden name.
If you have post-traumatic stress disorder, slowly and carefully press 9.
If you have bi-polar disorder, please wait and leave a message after the beep or before the beep. Or after the beep. Please wait for the beep.
If you have short term memory loss, please press 0.
If you have short term memory loss, please press 0.
If you have short term memory loss, please press 0.
If you have short term memory loss, please press 0.
If you have short term memory loss, please press 0.
If you have short term memory loss, please press 0.
If you have low self-esteem, please hang up. All our operators are too busy to talk to you.

Thursday, September 30, 2004

Quidam: a nameless passer-by, a solitary figure lingering on a street corner, a person rushing past. It could be anyone, anybody. Someone coming, going, living in our anonymous society. A member of the crowd, one of the silent majority. The one who cries out, sings and dreams within us all. This is the "quidam" that Cirque du Soleil is celebrating.

ahh...just in honorable mention, CLAYTON (hey dude) is the first and uncontested only person I've chatted with on my laptop. rounds of applause all around. thank you. pls visit his wondrous new blog at http://eminere.blogspot.com (wait, do i get paid for shamelessly plugging your blog?? HUH??)

Now a special mention for Eminere for having set up a blog to air his musty mind on thoughts he's been storing up for years and years without allowing as as much as a small tour around... Look over to your right, people and visit the inner trappings of Eminere's mind! I assure you that it shall proudly be one of the blogs you will display on your collection of links and frequently visit - once he actually puts up more thoughts... :-D So go forth, yes, forthwards and click on that link which will transport you to links you never knew existed! [Enough of redress? Or did you mean re-dress? Like you know... New clothes? :-P]